Political Psychobiography of President Clinton

Book Review of Stanley A. Renshon, High Hopes: The Clinton Presidency and the Politics of Ambition. New York: New York University Press, 1996. 402 pages, $24.95. Also, Stanley A. Renshon, The Psychological Assessment of Presidential Candidates. New York: New York University Press, 1996. 515 pages, $34.95.

This prolific author, a leading political scientist who edits the journal Political Psychology, assesses the personality and Presidential performance of Clinton in High Hopes and in two chapters of the second volume. Renshon provides diverse information and perceptive observations about the President, including his childhood and youth.

An unusual and valuable contribution of High Hopes is the discussion of the contrasting influences of Clinton’s mother and maternal grandmother. His mother is described as vain,

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hedonistic, and absent for about half the time in his first four years. Furthermore, she was often unavailable even when living with him. His mother’s mother was strict, moralistic, nurturant, and very ambitious for him. The problems were aggravated by the rivalry and hostility between his mother and grandmother. Clinton’s paradoxical combinations of traits might be partly attributable to the differences between his two maternal models.

The author gives an assessment of the traits needed by a President of the United States. Clinton obviously excels in intelligence, ambition, energy, and social attractiveness. Nevertheless, the author emphatically and repeatedly describes Clinton as being deficient in character. The President is thereby portrayed as unable to provide consistent, effective leadership toward important goals. Clinton’s shortcomings are primarily attributed to a flaw that appears to be the vice of gluttony. The author does not use that term but describes Clinton as a person who wants to have it all and who is unable to set limits. Despite being selfish and opportunistic, Clinton needs to be validated as ethically perfect. Some of his verbalizations appear to have the purpose of convincing himself, in addition to other people, that his deceptive actions are always honorable rather than dishonest or self-serving. Examples of Clinton’s deceptions are his evasion of military service during the Vietnam War and some of his 1992 Presidential campaign promises. More recent examples are his modifications of some policies soon after he became President, even before the election of 1994 shifted the Congress from Democratic to Republican majorities.

The author concludes that Clinton’s fundamental character is deceitful, inconsistent, and selfish. For example, Clinton’s frequent expressions of empathy are described as strategic empathy, which exploits the other person, rather than empathic attunement, which shares the other person’s feelings. Disapproval and disappointment appear to be the principal sentiments of the author toward Bill Clinton.

I question the validity of the adverse judgment by the author and think it is related to the genre he is using. In conventional biography the biographer generally admires the hero’s performance and emphasizes his or her strengths and virtues, tending to idealize the subject. In psychobiography, by contrast, the author tends to demonize the subject with an emphasis on the hidden weaknesses and other character flaws of the hero. A political scientist, such as the author, might be overly influenced by the human frailties and foibles revealed by the psychobiographical investigation.

Deceptive and inconsistent behavior may result from a politician’s virtues of flexibility and adaptability. Clinton’s opportunism may be seen as tactics in the service of fundamental ethical principles. His character was undoubtedly influenced by the strict moral standards of his maternal grandmother. Clinton’s mother was a recipient of the same moral traditions. It is my contention that her son may have been influenced more profoundly by this aspect of his mother’s personality than by her vanity and hedonism.

In common with Clinton, Franklin D. Roosevelt was often deceptive, inconsistent, and exploitative. Most historians agree that the idealism and moral values of Franklin D. Roosevelt were more fundamental than his character flaws. I believe that future historians will reach a similar consensus about Clinton. I remember that shortly after Clinton’s inauguration as President in 1993, a reporter asked him how he felt. He replied that, of course, he had a tremendous feeling of responsibility. I believe this was a sincere statement. Duty and service in addition to intelligence and ambition were repeatedly displayed in his earlier life in addition to his first term as President of the United States.

The two books by Stanley Renshon contribute much valuable information about the present President of the United States. The author summarizes well the information from prior biographies and other sources. The large reference list includes newspaper and magazine articles in addition to many books for scholars and for the general public. The numerous endnotes for each chapter add detailed documentation and discussion.

Although I disagree with the principal conclusion by the author, High Hopes contributes usefully to psychobiographical analysis. It is a scholarly, detailed analysis of an

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important and interesting contemporary politician. I believe it will improve the reputation of psychobiographies. The preparation of this analysis during Clinton’s first term as President has the merit of stating conclusions and predictions that can be supported or refuted by Clinton’s subsequent performance as President.

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NB: We are pleased to note the correctness of Barry’s previous predictions regarding Clinton’s re-election in the March, 1995, issue. There he called for Clinton’s “assertive and conciliatory” leadership to result in cooperation and “compromise with the Republican majorities in Congress…. slow growth of productivity and inflation…. [and] peaceful settlement of [international] disputes,” leading to “the ‘man from Hope’ … be[ing] President as reach the second millennium.”